Bulgarian hotels attract fewer Bulgarians, more foreigners in Q4 2010

news.dnevnik.bg, 22 feb 2011, 11.13 AM

The last quarter of 2010 saw a decrease in overnight stays by Bulgarians in local hotels and a considerable rise in foreigners' overnights, according to National Statistical Institute (NSI) data.

The average hotel occupancy rate, however, remained low in the period, at 14.3%, despite the slight increase of 0.7% compared with the year-earlier period.

Overnight stays by Bulgarian guests edged down 0.2%, while the number of foreign holidaymakers' overnights grew 21.7%.
Overnights by Russians marked the highest annual jump of 136%, followed by overnight stays by Americans with a 119% increase. Local hotels also registered a significant rise in the number of guests from Macedonia, Turkey and Greece.

Bulgarian hotels and other places of accommodation recorded 1.6 million overnights for October to December, up by 7.1% on the year, outpacing revenue growth, which climbed 4.2% to BGN 76.3 million.